National Film RegistryLibrary of Congress · Inducted 2017
“James Cameron's epic retold the story of the great maritime disaster and made mega-stars of both its leads, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Their upstairs-downstairs romance transported the audience to another world and time via spectacular sweeping scenes in the bow of the ship and beyond.”
Selected for preservation as culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.
Directed by
James Cameron
Studio
Paramount Pictures · British Film Institute · 20th Century Studios · 195 min
Sources: Wikidata · Library of Congress · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Titanic (1997) arrived as one of the most ambitious productions of its decade, released by Paramount Pictures in the United States and 20th Century Fox internationally under director James Cameron. Its scale, cost, and eventual sweep of the Academy Awards made it a defining cinematic event of the 1990s, and its box office run cemented it as a touchstone of modern popular filmmaking. The pairing of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet became inseparable from the film's identity, their performances carrying the emotional weight of the story across a global audience.
This cell centers on Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater, the film's central couple, whose bond forms the heart of the narrative. Their names alone signal the romance at the story's core, the meeting of two people from different worlds bound together aboard the doomed ship. A frame identified simply as "Jack and Rose" points to the essence of the film rather than a single scripted event, making it a natural touchstone for collectors seeking the picture's emotional anchor. As a 35mm artifact, it preserves a physical trace of the pairing that defined the film's legacy.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour release print of Titanic (1997).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched holes appear cleanly formed with no torn edges visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data-block strip in the inter-perforation zone on the opposite edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read any key numbers or manufacturer text.
Base & colour
The base shows a slight blue-violet tint consistent with a dye-incorporated colour print stock; the dye image appears warm and well-saturated with no visible fading.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or prominent scratches are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, consistent with a release print of Titanic (1997).
Era check
The combination of a blue-tinted polyester base, variable-area optical track, and apparent Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks is consistent with a theatrical release print from the mid-to-late 1990s.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000062611
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
